my birds are racists!

[aran]

Ok thats a bold headline and ill explain and maybe you guys can explain it to me.


I have 24 birds in the main flock in the big run/coop. There is 14 x 7 weekers and 10x 11 weekers. ( well the whites may be a little older not sure got em at the feed store) So here is the weird thing...the two groups are made up of the following:

7 weekers:
3 x white cochin pullets
3 x salmon fav pullets
1 x salmon fav roo
3 x SS hamburg pullets
1x SS hamburg roo
3 x buff orp pullets


11 Weekers:
3x white pullets ? breed, may be leghorns, or RIW not sure.
3x RIR pullets
3x production black pullets
1x RIR roo. ( fuzzy aka the fuzzman--> my 6 year old names the chickens...we have one called chickenpoo as well!)

In the main coop they all get in there together..there is plenty of room in there and wait for it this is bizarre:

They segregate themselves based on breed and colour...how the heck when they were all raised from 1 day old chicks together do they know how to separate into their respective breeds and colours? I mean the buff orps nest here, the RIR roost there, the SSH roost here, the production blacks roost there...you get the picture...all the breeds are separated in the areas in which they choose to roost...it is the strangest thing. When i get the stupid camera going i will take a few pics to show you. Has anyone else seen this kind of thing? During the day they all just hang out as a group and no worries about colour/breed. I just dont understand it.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

LOL aran. I've noticed this, too. The 2 EE's stick together the Pheonix, the Japs and Silkies as well. I think it has to do with they are trying to blend in with each other to maybe try and confuse a predator...?? You know, birds of a feather flock together.

 

[speckledhen]

Yep, same here. And in my 23 week old group, I have one RIR and one RIR/Buff Orp cross from the same sire. They are always together. Always. Here's a picture of my older flock from when they were much younger that illustrates what you're saying:

 

[BirdBrain]

Aran, I had to laugh at your post. My folks have cattle and they have three different breeds and the three breeds keep to themselves pretty much as well. I think it is just that they have different habits and activity levels and they know "their own kind". It it the weirdest thing. Of course, if I am holding food of any kind, they know no boundaries. It is each cow for themselves.

We have one pet (pest) cow who, if you open the window of the car or truck, will stick her head ALL the way in and give you a 10 inch kiss...no joke. She is just sure you MUST have brought her cubes or some other treat. This is the one that likes chocolate chip cookies.

 

[lacyloo]

when i first got my cayoga ducks they went to git into to the pool with my pekins and the pekins scater like they never seen another duck.lol it took them awile to get to know each other and now they git along great

 

[CarriBrown]

Right when I saw the topic I thought, Well... Speckled Hen better post her picture!

It's funny how they do that! My BLRWs group together, the silkies group together... even the hens that I have one-sies I have stick to other hens that are the same size.

 

[aran]

i just think its hilarious...The two new girls I am theoretically going to get from the shelter/vet next week are welsomers i think ( ?sp) and are a different colour red to the rir and the buff orps..somewhere in between. I wonder if they will hang with the buff orps, the RIR or by themselves. ie will they be able to tell the different shades of red feathers because they are all about the same size.

 

[rosyposyosy]

wow!! at first when mine were chicks they seperated, but since i only had 3 (2 bantam cochin/1americauna) they all went together. when we moved them to the coop they roosted together all the time they were SOOOOOoo attatched, especially gordita the americauna - she is SOOOOo whiny. then i got rid of my rooster penelope. so i have fajita and gordita and they get along just great! that might just be there is no one to side with though